August 19th, 2011
When should an Lasting Power of Attorney be registered?
Before the LPA can be used it must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). Their fee covers registration and should it occur, their costs of investigating allegations of mismanagement.
Delay registration
You don’t pay the registration fee until the power needs to be used.
The registration process delays the use of the power by at last 6 weeks, at a time when it needs to be used. There is no scope to use the power during this process and if the attorney needs to make decisions urgently, they will need to apply for a Court order.
You can change your mind and cancel the power without any problem.
No need to keep the OPG informed of any change of address/names.
You control a property and financial affairs power, so it cannot be used until you choose for it to be registered or it needs to be registered for use.
Register immediately
You pay the fee even if you do not need the power to be used immediately
As soon as the power needs to be used it can be activated immediately, without any delay.
If you change your mind and cancel the power and make another power, then further fees will need to be paid to the OPG.
There is a need to keep the OPG informed of any change of address/names of attorneys.
The attorney can use a property and financial affairs power immediately it has been registered, unless you state otherwise.
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or be constituted to be legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of any acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.